Let Me Entertain You
by azurecobaltandteal
Summary: "Well, if her friends won't stay, we'll get her one that can't leave." Slave!Ty Lee AU. Drabblefic.
1. Chapter 1

Hi. I'm new and _was_ writing for Tyzula Week. Now I decided to continue this story without the prompts but still as drabbles. Feel free to suggest prompts :)

* * *

 _Handwriting_

"She doesn't have trouble making friends. She has trouble _keeping them_ ," Princess Ursa states.

It is the most certain she has been about anything said in this conversation. Ursa and her husband have debated the fact that Azula seems to prefer the company of intelligent adults, which Ozai vehemently defended, solely because the adult most charmed by her is Fire Lord Azulon.

They at last delved into the matter that children _want_ to befriend Azula, even without the vicious nudging of their parents. She attracts people. But Azula does not know how to behave, how to be a child, and _that_ is why Ursa did not relent about having this conversation.

She may have never gotten over how she has the creeping sensation that Azula _remembers_ her mother's rejection after her birth. She may be well aware that the reason Azula quickly became a force of destruction in their small family of four is because Ozai had intended for her to be that way.

But, so help her, Ursa will get that girl an actual childhood.

Without one, she will not be a ruler. She will just wind up flat fucking crazy, as Ursa pointed out, even if her voice quavered.

"Well, if her friends won't stay, we get her one that can't leave," Ozai says, as if it is _so obvious_.

 _Or, we teach her_ how _to keep her friends,_ is Ursa's thought, but she holds her tongue. His offer is better than nothing.

"What do you propose? A betrothed? To Zuko, I mean, not to her," Ursa suggests and he seems very unimpressed by that idea. She does not know _why_ but she does not want to argue either.

"A slave, of course. There are so many of them to choose from." His cavalier tone bothers his wife, but she rubs her arm and conceals that discontent.

"Those have... connotations," she demurs and he looks at her as if she is crazy.

"Not a little girl. Are you saying that a _little girl_ would have sexual connotations?" He stars at her and she supposes she does not _want_ to argue with that. It does not seem worth it, is all.

"We should..." Ursa does not think she is going to be listened to.

 **x**

The man running the business, standing in the very well decorated waiting room, is writing down the information about the girl that the two royals saw. He is nervous and it keeps making the ink smudge, but, of course, the prince and princess are statuesque and do not offer a condolence.

Ursa was frustrated at buying a human pet for Azula when she has seen what her daughter has done with animals, but she was never bothered by slavery. She _is_ , however, discomfited by the little girl very patiently waiting, with a very nice braid in her hair, who could pass so easily for any child Ursa has seen among her children.

It is very different than a serving woman or man.

The idea that someone would be so desperate as to need to sell their _child_ is disturbing to Ursa. She cannot imagine what would drive someone to that extreme... but she should not complain if it is going to help her daughter.

But here she is with a bill of sale in her hand, one that has just been signed by the man she is married to, and she does not know what to make of that. She does not know how to feel about his signature on the neatly handwritten slip of paper that bought a friend for Azula.

"Thank you for your business," the man says, still sounding nervous.

He watches them leave, with the girl holding the princess's smooth hand.

* * *

 _Kittens_

"We are not going to tell Azula that this little one is _hers_ until she's old enough to understand," Ursa demands and Ozai gives her at least that.

She is staring at the little girl, who is playing with the two fluffy white kittens that Azula is getting for her birthday along with her slave.

Ursa stares at the gleeful child and hopes that this does not turn out as poorly as she thinks that it will.

 **x**

Azula wanted a kitten for her birthday, and she gets two.

But while the two kittens are cute as could be, it is her other gift that intrigues her the most.

"They're really cute," the other girl says brightly as she scratches one of the furballs behind the ears. Azula looks up at her mother, and how her mother is being so _kind_ to this other little girl. It makes Azula want to burn _everything_.

"That's Azula," Ursa says _tenderly_ to the girl in the braid and Azula takes a huffy breath.

"It's my birthday and I don't even know her. She is not invited here and not allowed to touch my new kittens." Azula then gestures at the other gifts. "Or anything else."

"Okay," says the girl, whom shrugs and releases the kitten that she was snuggling against. "Whatever you want, princess."

The girl seems quite pleased with that idea and Azula is unimpressed.

"Of course you will ─"

" _Azula_ ," father says and suddenly she is listening attentively, unlike she was when it was just her mother. "Go play with your new friend. She is here exclusively for you."

Azula stares at him. She then picks up one of the kittens in her arms and stalks away with the new girl walking after her, looking _so confused_.

 _Of course_ they would try to make her a _friend_ when she has no need for one.

 **x**

Ty Lee follows Azula without a single thought about getting in trouble. She has the other cat with her, even though Azula told her _not to_ which is really scary because she knows that she is supposed to do whatever Azula wants.

Azula finally stops at her bedroom with the cat clinging to her shirt.

"What do you want?" Azula asks.

"Whatever you want." Ty Lee blinks. "I brought your other kitty for you."

Honestly, Azula is used to people _groveling_ , but she does not quite know what to think about _this_ particular girl.

"Fine. Let's see how much you _really_ mean that," Azula says sweetly and Ty Lee tries really hard not to be nervous.

Let the games begin.


	2. Chapter 2

_Daycare_

Azula enjoys she and Ty Lee's wicked games.

At first, they torment Ty Lee in as many inventive ways as Azula can muster. And the girl _obeys_. Ty Lee does anything Azula says to an extent that Azula had never experienced before. While other annoying attempts at friends could not even tolerate a command or a little scratch mark, Ty Lee seems glad to... _do anything_.

Ty Lee really likes Azula, as mean as the princess can be. She really likes Azula's mom, which makes the princess kind of mean to her. It is on one cold night that Ty Lee sees the true extent towards which Azula hates her mother.

The stars out, very bright and pouring through Azula's freshly cleaned window. That, added to the blue moon, makes it feel as if it is bright as daylight inside. Ty Lee tries to sleep, because Azula is, but she has the desire to get up and run around. She does pretty often, but she stays at Azula's side to watch her and be her friend and everything she enjoys to do not because she is _supposed_ to do.

Princess Ursa attempts to come in to tuck in her daughter. Azula instantly turns away and Ty Lee feels uncomfortable. She is lying in bed with Azula, because they have started to share by now despite Azula making her sleep on the floor for a long while.

"Are you two doing okay?" Ursa asks very softly and Azula says nothing, of course.

Ty Lee does not know why. She really doesn't.

"We're..." Ty Lee closes her mouth quickly. She remembers what she is supposed to do and that she is a slave and that is that.

Ursa hands Ty Lee something, and Ty Lee does not say that she might as well be handing her a shrapnel mine. It is a cute little stuffed animal and Ty Lee smiles. It looks just like one of Azula's kitties, the two who have been growing up so cute and clever.

"Thank you," Ty Lee whispers, because she thinks that Ursa and Ozai own her too, even if Azula is the one she spends her entire day with.

Ty Lee shoves it under her pillow the minute Ursa attempts to tuck in her daughter and then leaves, defeated quickly.

"You can keep that thing."

"You're not gonna burn it?" Ty Lee's eyes flash wide, glittering from the moonlight pouring in from the window.

"No," Azula murmurs as she turns to face Ty Lee. "I don't care. She just likes you because you take care of me and she doesn't have to. Just set me in front of another kid and I'm out of the way for the day."

Ty Lee opens her lips, wanting to voice her confusion but not knowing how.

"I don't..." Ty Lee swallows. "You're right."

Azula cocks an eyebrow. "That's what you have to say. You have to do everything I want so that my parents don't have to deal with me for more than two seconds. You don't have to be so _scared_ of them and what they'll do if you're not a good friend. I don't want someone to be a friend to me and do all I say because you're scared of my parents."

It is because Ty Lee is a _slave_ , but Azula cannot know that. On top of that, Ty Lee is uncertain why Azula just sounds bitter and jaded instead of sad about her parents.

Ty Lee wants to talk about her parents could not afford her, or how she had problems with them because they sold her off to make sure she was taken care of. They couldn't pay for school or adoption or daycare or anything, and so she got to be a slave.

But Ty Lee likes it, because she has a best friend.

Ty Lee never thought she would have a best friend before.

* * *

 _Cherries_

Azula is nine and she does not know what to _pop a cherry_ is, but she does know that it made Zuko angry at father, which is... not uncommon in this house. They of course are viciously at each other's throats over something Ozai was demanding and Zuko was refusing and Azula could not follow it. She observes, with distaste, that they seem to have forgotten she is even there.

She looks up at her father to ask, saying, "What does it mean to pop a - " and Ty Lee looks like she is going to have a heart attack.

Ty Lee grabs Azula by the hand, touching her without permission for the first time. Zuko and Ozai are now possibly on the verge of blows, and mother is nowhere in sight to save him. Azula wants to watch, but Ty Lee tugs on her, and Azula follows.

"What?" Azula snaps and Ty Lee looks very nervous. "What?"

Ty Lee takes a deep breath and tries to explain. "It's like..." Ty Lee blushes cherry red. "It's like..."

It's like the fact that Zuko and Ozai's conversation was about a slave girl, and Ty Lee is one of those, and she doesn't know how she is supposed to express that type of thing to Azula. Ty Lee cannot remember when she learned it, but it must have been a long time ago, because she clearly did not learn it from Azula, who is huffy and slightly smoking.

"It's like... a sex thing?" Ty Lee weakly offers in her small voice.

"Elaborate." Azula crosses her arms.


	3. Chapter 3

_Cautious_

Ursa cannot help but say, "I _believe_ we should be cautious about telling her. I _believe_ you are rushing this for the sake of watching how she'll react. You're not informing your daughter; you're testing a weapon."

And, of course, her husband stands by his decision without taking a moment to reconsider his stance. "You may have noticed that _you_ are the only one who calls her a weapon. That _you_ are the one who calls her my daughter and not your own. I think that _you_ shouldn't be making important life decisions for a child you see as someone else's possession."

"I don't, I…" She does realize that she speaks that way. That she sees it that way without catching herself. But that does not make him right. . . or _her_ right perhaps.

"I'll be careful," he halfheartedly agrees.

* * *

 _Purring_

Azula pets one of her two kitties. Ty Lee is making the other one dance as it gazes at their owner forlornly.

"Ugh. Stop torturing your pet," Azula finally says.

"She's purring!" Ty Lee demurs without noticing her disobedience. Azula just feels like a real friend most of the time.

"She's _growling_ ," Azula replies and Ty Lee, as always, obeys. The cat skitters away as if it thinks the girls will change their mind.

"I wish cats could dance." Ty Lee lies down and pouts.

Azula smirks at it.

* * *

 _Doubt_

Zuko got a sex talk.

Azula got a ' _you own your best friend in the same way you own your cats'_ talk

"I don't understand."

"Yes you do. Don't lie," Ozai replies and Azula averts her eyes. She wishes she could feign innocence in the matter.

"I am going to treat her the same way," Azula says.

They both doubt that.

 **x**

"Did you know?" Azula snaps and Ty Lee's eyes flicker wide from her surprise.

She has just walked back to her room after a father to daughter talk, and she finds Ty Lee with a doll. Ty Lee always liked dolls. Azula liked destroying them.

"Know what, princess?" Ty Lee asks, gently tucking the doll into its lovely bed.

"That you weren't a _friend_. That you were a _birthday gift_ ," Azula growls with a danger in her tone to match Ozai or Azulon.

Ty Lee stares and stares and stares. Azula awaits her answer patiently.

"Yeah, I knew."

"You certainly didn't bother telling me," Azula says and Ty Lee does not like how cold and mean she is. But Azula gets like that sometimes and Ty Lee has to oblige. "Do you even do anything because you like me or because I own you?"

"Because you're my best friend, 'zula. You really are!" Ty Lee says fiercely.

But Azula doubts her; Ty Lee can see it in her eyes.

* * *

 _Silver_

"The moon is weird tonight," Ty Lee says as she hesitantly gets into Azula's bed. The princess does not say anything. She has not said anything to Ty Lee all afternoon since she found out Ty Lee did not tell her about the slavery.

It _is_ weird tonight. It makes the room glow silver, illuminating Azula like the perfect being she is. But Ty Lee does not think she will ever have the relationship with that perfect being that she did in the past.

"I love you, 'zula."

No answer.

* * *

 _Whimsical_

Ty Lee tries to entertain her. It's the best thing she can do. The _only_ thing she can do.

She does everything she can think of to try to make Azula laugh.

Just once.

Why couldn't Azula laugh just _one time_?

Ty Lee is super scared as she does happy acts and walks on her hands until they ache.

* * *

 _Destruction_

"You can smash my doll," Ty Lee offers hopefully.

"It's my doll," Azula retorts.

"Oh."

"You're my doll too."

"Don't smash me, please."

"I haven't made up my mind about that yet."

* * *

 _TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

_Abandoned_

In a second, the world can change forever.

For Ty Lee, that second is when Azula's mother vanishes and her grandfather dies. It happens in one night, which, Ty Lee thinks is pretty suspicious, but she doesn't think she is smart enough to propose a connection. Azula doesn't show the slightest crack in her cold façade, but Zuko cries a few times.

Ty Lee is just in a daze. She doesn't really know what comes next.

She is not invited to the funeral, of course, but she doesn't know why Azula doesn't cry. Nothing has been the same for them since Azula found out the truth, but she thought Azula could at least be open with her and not all closed up like she is.

Azula sits down as she usually would.

"She no longer exists," Azula says and Ty Lee nods. If Azula says it, it is true. "I am several steps closer to being Fire Lord."

"Do you really wanna be that?" Ty Lee asks innocently and Azula nods at her. Azula's expression is as if Ty Lee asked if the sky was blue. "What about your brother?"

"He is unfit," Azula says and Ty Lee nods again. "Of course he is. More unfit than _uncle_ and I'm certain father sees that. Mother was the only thing in the way of my greatness, like he always said."

Ty Lee rests her head on her own knee. "You don't miss her?"

Azula laughs.

"That was funny," she says, standing up.

Ty Lee wasn't joking, but she doesn't disobey her best friend.

She feels abandoned.

Azula doesn't seem to.

* * *

 _Doll_

"You don't like anything," Ty Lee complains. It is the bluntest she has been with Azula. "I want you to have fun."

"I'm fine. Fun is a waste of time."

"He…" burnt all of her childhood relics. Toys, paintings, things that represented youth… or personality. Azula is now Ozai's protégée and he is not a good man. But he is Fire Lord, and he bought Ty Lee, and Ty Lee knows that.

"I still have you," Azula says honestly. "You were my favorite toy."

Ty Lee smiles. "I'm good at it."

"You are."

"I'm way better than any doll."

"Of course. You're a living one." Azula hesitates when she sees Ty Lee's expression fall. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ty Lee sighs softly and shakes her head.

Azula demands again, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just want to be your friend. Not your doll."

Azula frowns.

"You are my friend. You are my best friend." Azula licks her lips. "Just don't tell my father, of course. He'll get rid of you if you're anything more than a toy."

"So, when we grow up…?"

"I'll find a way. I'm not losing you."

"What if he sells me?" Ty Lee's heart starts beating too fast. She is sweating. She doesn't understand the feeling inside of her.

"I won't let him. You can do my hair or something. It's not hard," Azula says lightly.

She suppresses her tears when she sees Ty Lee's silent disbelief.

* * *

 _Newbie_

Mai is nice.

No, she's not nice at all. But Ty Lee thinks she's better than okay, and she really wants to be friends with her. She is betrothed to Zuko and seems to be in the palace often.

Azula likes her.

Ty Lee likes everybody, and loves friendship, so she makes sure Mai feels welcome.

That does not help the boiling anger and hot jealousy she feels every time Azula and Mai spend any time together.

* * *

 _Knotted_

"Do you want to get married?" Ty Lee asks.

"No," Azula responds.

"Really?" Ty Lee's eyes widen.

"You can't. Why do you care?"

Ty Lee blinks. "I can't get married?"

"No. Of course you can't. I don't have to as long as I have some kind of heir. My father has… never been married, of course."

"Yeah." Ty Lee continues weaving their hair together into a joint braid.

Ty Lee wishes it weren't that way. She knows that every time she tries to daydream about her dream husband, she can see only her dream wife.

Azula. A girl who will be _Fire Lord_ Azula.

And slaves don't marry Fire Lords.

Ty Lee ties the knot and gazes in the mirror at the black intertwined with brunette.

Slaves don't marry Fire Lords.


	5. Chapter 5

_Cruel_

Mai goes to school with Azula.

Ty Lee wishes it were easier to hate somebody. Mai does not deserve the ire of Ty Lee at all. It would be cruel to hate her for no reason other than being Azula's friend, because Mai is kind of Ty Lee's friend too.

Mai is as nice to Ty Lee as she was to other people. That is not very much, since Mai is an extremely cold person. They have hugged once or twice even though Mai hates hugging.

Ty Lee always wanted friends, and she still does. She wants a thousand of them because they make her feel special, wanted and normal.

So, it hurts that Mai and Azula go to school to be around other people and bond with each other.

She wishes she did not hate that so much.

* * *

 _Falling_

Ty Lee never thought it was possible to fall asleep in someone's arms. Sitting down on the floor, beneath the sun pouring through the window. Ty Lee has her back on the wall and Azula's back against her. Princess Azula falls asleep on her shoulder.

That, Ty Lee can hardly believe.

She is just a slave. The princess cannot possibly trust her so deeply when she is just a toy. Maybe she is a comforting doll to a growing young woman.

Will Azula outgrow her?

Will Azula begin falling out of fascination?

Ty Lee has never been so scared of something in her life.

* * *

 _Lightning_

Azula's father tries to teach her to bend lightning.

She is so tired. He has not let her sleep or sit down or take a moment away.

"You need to be focused," growls Ozai and Azula nods.

"But…" she whispers, "I don't think I can be focused when I'm so tired. Please let me just rest and I'll do much better."

Ozai glares at her and she feels infinitesimally tiny and weak. She meets his eyes and then looks away. Her father's eyes speak for themselves; she is not going to be allowed off of her feet until she is successful.

Azula does not manage on her first two sleepless days.

He releases her.

She sits beside her slave girl. Ty Lee rubs her shoulders, as if that will let her sleep or rest. She _needs_ to succeed. Ozai will despise her if she does not.

"I believe you can do anything. You're amazing," Ty Lee whispers in Azula's ear. "You're so amazing."

Azula does not answer.

* * *

 _Romance_

"Your slave girl is very beautiful," Ozai says and Azula cocks her head to the side. She does not understand the comment. "I can see something between you two and I certainly don't blame you. I would."

Azula sits down, even though she is training and he usually does not let her rest until they are done. She has to be his flawless weapon at all costs, including the loss of her childhood.

"She's not even a friend. She's a living doll," Azula says, clasping her hands on her lap. "I would not think of her in a romantic way ever."

"That's a lie, even if you believe it," replies Ozai. "I don't want you involved in some romance when you have more important things to do. Stay away from her unless you want me to get rid of her, or, worse, give her to someone else."

Azula nods.

"I was never planning on getting close," she says.

He again does not believe her, even if she believes herself.

* * *

 _Storm_

It happens during a storm. Caldera is notorious for them in summer.

Ty Lee sits with Azula in their often shared bed. She always has trouble sleeping during storms. They make her tense for one reason or another.

"I am not tired," Azula says, sitting up beside Ty Lee. "And I assume you are afraid of lightning."

"Not… not a lot. Just a little," Ty Lee says, nodding hard and fast.

Azula sits back and watches Ty Lee twitch nervously. She lies there calmly for a few moments before she decides to do something stupid and impulsive.

She kisses Ty Lee.

Ty Lee is completely unprepared for it. You would think that after all of the hours of being with Azula—growing up beside her, watching her talk, laugh, frown, smirk—she would know all there was to know about her owner's lips. But Ty Lee never could have imagined how warm they feel pressed against hers. Azula feels like fire and tastes like perfect. Perfect never was a taste to Ty Lee before this moment, but now it certainly is. She thought after watching Azula bend for so long, she would know every motion of her hands, but she does not know this one.

Azula presses them into Ty Lee's back, and they kiss each other harder.

They break free. They do not have sex or make-out or look each other in the eye.

They both just pretend to go to sleep.

* * *

 _Dreams_

In the morning, Ty Lee thinks she has just woken from a dream. She remembers a kiss that could never happen in reality. Ty Lee has wanted Azula for so very long. She cannot even remember when she first fell in love with the princess.

If it is real, she thinks her reality might be more beautiful and strange than her dreams.

Azula wakes up and kisses her again.

Yes. This is what dreams are made of.

* * *

 _Observant_

Ty Lee watches Azula every day. She watches her every move and her every breath. While she has always done it, her gaze has changed. When they were young, she was just fascinated by how Azula glowed like the sun, as if she was woven from starlight and her blood was composed of sunbeams.

Now, Ty Lee does not see those poetic visions anymore.

She sees the heave of the princess's chest. She sees the way her teeth touch her lips when she focuses on her training. She sees the motion of her legs with every step she takes.

Ty Lee observes what she should not.

She has no clue that Azula is watching her too, and seeing the exact same things.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi. I have a plan for this story now. I'm going to update every month with drabbles based on the TyzulaTuesday prompts, and I probably will update for Tyzula Week and other events too. I always want to participate in the challenges but never have new ideas, and I hate leaving fics unfinished. Count on me to do this new plan and I hope you enjoy the story as Azula and Ty Lee get older.

* * *

 _Family Matters_

Ty Lee feels like part of the family sometimes, but knows she is a possession. At best, she would be a family pet. They talk to her and let her sit on the furniture and show affection but they never let her forget that she is not one of them. Not a real human.

Azula even gives her second-hand sweets which are almost as blinding as the pretty lies that she feeds her friend out of the palm of her hand.

This is one such night. Ty Lee chews on cinnamon candies and Azula tells stories that leave Ty Lee clinging on every purred word.

They sit by the elaborate fountain that serves as a summer swimming pool. Azula is not a fan of water, so she usually stays away from it, but Ty Lee likes to swim, and Azula likes to watch Ty Lee swim because the water certainly accentuates her most attractive features.

The slave drips and rests her head on the master's shoulder.

Azula never _tries_ to flirt, never _tries_ to seduce. She would not know how. But she radiates it. The fire of desire and Ty Lee cannot resist.

"You're the best person in the world," Ty Lee says.

"I know," Azula says.

Her father calls across the courtyard, which is unusual for him—he always sends a messenger to gather his daughter—and says, "Azula, get here immediately."

She stands. Ty Lee begins to follow but Azula pushes her down.

"I am sure it is a family matter," says Azula, reminding Ty Lee again that she is not an equal.

Maybe, she thinks, as Azula walks away, that is not the worst thing.

She does not love Azula the way one should love a sister.

* * *

 _Hopeless Situation_

"Azula, I'm going to speak freely," Mai says. Azula's eyes flare but it does not stop her. "You're in love with Ty Lee."

"I am not in love with a slave. Perhaps I will sleep with her one day but I certainly am not in love with a slave," Azula says, her fierce insistence belying her assertion.

"You're in love with a slave," says Mai.

Azula punches her in the face, breaking her nose. She does not even bother to be dignified and use her firebending; it comes from a deep, dark feeling inside of her that erupts like a volcano. Mai reels but does not react.

Princess Azula runs away and tries her best to ignore her hopeless situation.

She _cannot_ be in love with a slave.

It would be horrid and heartbreaking and hurtful.

* * *

 _Those Eyes_

It is the last summer of adolescence and Ty Lee teaches Azula to flirt. Or tries to, at least.

"Your eyes glimmer like starlight," Ty Lee says, smiling and batting her eyelashes. "You do it like that, princess."

"Do my eyes glimmer like starlight?" Azula asks, mocking Ty Lee, yes, but partially honest.

"No," says Ty Lee and Azula's hand twitches to hit her. "No. They shine like sunlight."

"You are too good at this _flirting_. Who are you sneaking around with?"

"Oh, just all the serving boys and your brother and all the guards and…" Ty Lee begins before Azula begins to smother her with a pillow.

Ty Lee laughs and Azula pulls away before any harm is done.

* * *

 _Summer Daze_

Ty Lee swims again. Azula watches her again.

"Will you please come into the water, princess?" Ty Lee politely begs, unable to keep the teenage-girl twang out of her pretty voice.

"Maybe," Azula says, smirking. She dips a toe in and then quickly pulls it out.

Ty Lee swims forward and considers pulling her in, but then remembers what she is and what Azula is. So, she just sits there and lets Azula tease her.

Azula does not swim on this summer day.

Ty Lee wishes with all her heart that she would.

* * *

 _New Love_

Azula jumps into the water days later.

Ty Lee could cry from joy but she just squeals. Azula covers her mouth and then slowly swims. She is surprisingly good at it for someone who avoids water like the plague.

"Why are you swimming, princess?" Ty Lee asks, sidling up against her. They linger there and could heat the ice cold water with a single touch of their skin.

"You have no right to ask me questions. You are a slave," Azula says, and she swims away.

Ty Lee does not follow.

* * *

 _Be Mine_

"I swam because I want you," Azula says. It is an announcement, a royal decree. Ty Lee laps it up and sits there and tries to forget why they cannot be. "I want you but not yet."

Ty Lee then knows what she means. She should know better being property of the royal family since she is amazed no one else has made that proposition now that she is thirteen.

Azula sits down and sets her hands on her lap. Ty Lee never has seen her uncomfortable until tonight. That makes everything more confusing.

"I'm yours," Ty Lee says. "I'm your best friend and I'm your favorite doll and I'll be whatever you want me to be."

"Be mine," Azula orders, her voice cracking. Ty Lee never has heard that either. "Be mine and that is all. You need no other order."

Ty Lee smiles.

She wishes Azula meant something other than the physical, but that was a delusion.

Azula is a princess. Ty Lee is a slave. Any attraction or relationship beyond that never happened before in history, as far as the other servants say.

Why should Ty Lee be special?

* * *

 _You're Cute_

The mistress of the palace says to Ty Lee, "You're cute. You're so cute being in love with her and I hate that she crushed you. She's Azula, though. You fell for the wrong one if you want love."

"I don't think Ozai would be any better," Ty Lee says.

"No. Of course not. He would be worse. I meant Zuko. He always was such a kind boy to the servants, when not throwing his tantrums. Those are unbearable. The boy might be arrogant and angry, but he isn't like her or his father."

"I'm not in love with Zuko. I'm in love with Azula. And I think she'll love me back. I think she _does_. You should've heard her. She didn't sound like herself when she said she wanted me," Ty Lee insists, but she knows her protests will go unheard.

"You're cute," repeats the mistress.

Ty Lee hangs her head.

She hates feeling like a silly little girl.

But she is one.

Oh, yes, she is one.


End file.
